Frankfinn to set up Rs 100 cr pilot training centre

Mumbai-based Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training is planning to start a Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) aviation school for pilot and aircraft maintenance training in Panaji.

The school, which will be designed on the lines of a seven-star hotel, will impart advanced training to cabin crew and maintenance staff.

Frankfinn Aviation chairman K S Kohli said the institute was in talks with three French architecture firms for designing the proposed school.

"We are also talking to a Canadian government sponsored institute for cabin crew training and a few aircraft engineering maintenance firms in the US for conducting maintenance training at the school," said Kohli.

The institute will lease an Airbus A 330 aircraft for training in Goa. The institute had earlier acquired an Airbus A-300, a popular mid-sized airliner, on lease for training its cabin crew aspirants.

Kohli said the institute aimed at training 21,000 students, at its 70 centres in the country, by 2007. It is also planning to open its first overseas centre in Dubai by July. It will start eight centres in the country and abroad.

Meanwhile, the institute is planning to launch a low cost airline by 2009. Kohli pointed out the company was in talks with the US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing Company for acquiring two bigger aircraft.

"The idea is to have two big Boeing aircraft and four smaller aircraft. We have not yet decided on the smaller aircraft," he said. "Our plan is to have 25 aircraft by 2012. This airline will be a low cost carrier but not a no-frills carrier," he added.

Frankfinn Institute is a subsidary of Frankfinn Aviation Services. In addition to the institute, FAS has two other divisions - Frankfinn Management Consultants and Frankfinn Music.